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I say we get Justin in to talk to the Lakers about not daydreaming … though if I was a Laker and Kim Kardashian was courtside, I wouldn’t be able to even dribble straight.
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A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Source: washingtonpost.com
(via shakingtambourine)
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Well well its been super long since my last post! Goodness. School has taken a toll on me and I guess adjusting back from the green, isnt so easy after all. But I think i’ll manage. Exams are just over so I just surrender everything to him. Not that I can do anything else now too. So its in god’s hands.
Anyway, I think over the past few months, god has been revealing alot of things to me, especially when I put my trust in him. And i must admit, even though I’ve done it alot of times, sometimes its just do difficult to leave it in his hands. I’m sure i’m not the only one struggling with this. We all do because we’re human.
But it is in trusting god wholeheartedly, that we slowly begin to see how life is lived out, in his plan. Not ours. I’ve learnt to realise over the past few months that surrendering to him and letting him reveal to me what he wants for me, isn’t such a bad idea. He makes me go through things which I do not understand, but yet somehow, I go through them with faith, and by his grace, I come out of them, renewed. I also do not have to worry about alot of things? Because I know he will take care of them for me.
True, that this may seem so basic and something that is supposed to be taken care of during our foundation years of building our faith, but do we realise that we have to be constantly doing this, and it doesnt stop at any point of our lives? That we have to be constantly trusting in him, surrendering to him, so that we may live out fully the lives he wants for us. Not ours I emphasise again.
I would like to share two things god has blessed me with so far of which I am really appreciative of. Of course doing all this, surrendering to him. Firstly was my gift of tongues. I’ve been praying for this for a very long time but somehow, I never seem to get it. So during the facils spiritual prep on the second day of confi retreat, a few of us stayed behind to ask for the gift of tongues. While the charismatic people were praying over me, they told me to just surrender to god and do not control anything which I’m about to say. So that I did. And after the praying over, I got it. Tim’s mum then told me, she sensed that I had it all along, but its just that I was scared to use it. True enough, I was scared previously whenever I prayed for it. Because I would always think that I would be saying something wrong or weird. Also I think it was because I was in a correct disposition at that time during the praying over. Because it just so happened that I came back from exams and that my heart was open enough, that I didnt have to worry about anything, which is why I managed to receive it. And as I looked back, previously I was always holding onto something. Which is why I wasnt able to receive the gift from god. So being in a proper and open disposition is important. So praise god!
The second thing is the blessing of my two godchildren, god’s children to me. I think previously I used to think, ‘Wouldn’t it be an honour to have godchildren? That I would be able to share with them my faith experience and bring them to god? So that they too can have an intimate experience with god’. And what timing was it that he sent them this year. I think it was because of me constantly surrendering to him and trusting him, which is why he revealed this plan for me. Even during the discernment process, I told them to pray about it. Because god must be present in this, and that we must do his will, not ours. During the discernment process, even I had doubts. I had doubts of fear, feeling unworthy. But as I prayed I was affirmed by his message, ‘do not be afraid, for I am with you’. And I also realised that if I agreed, it would give me an opportunity to challenge my faith to another level. Because I would be god’s direct instrument to them. And that I have to be even more grounded in my faith so as to share with them god’s word. So thus eventually I agreed, with god’s strength and grace. Praise god!!
All in all, I just would like to conclude that it is in surrendering to him, that we find out his plans for us, day by day. Not ours, but his. And it is in letting him be our driver, that everything ahead will be steered towards a greater calling. So if you have any areas which you find that you’re so tired of controlling it anymore, maybe its time to offer it to our god. Start today =)!!!
With Love,
FreeMan
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